Pictures Of You
by felixfelish46
Summary: Broken hearted Katie Bell is tossed by the horrible Roger Davies, and only one ginger haired prankster can bring her smile back, with some help from Gerbils, Professor Snape, and some Giant Spiders of course. Fratie.
1. Chapter 1

Katie Bell trudged through the portrait hole and into the common room, unceremoniously dumping her books and bag onto a seated Alicia Spinnet's lap, all the while feeling completely and utterly jilted and rejected. She collapsed in the vacant seat on the couch, made for her by a confused George Weasley, and let out an angry harumph.

"Katie Kates, something tells me you aren't your usual chipper self," George remarked as he snickered at the thought of Katie ever being described as 'chipper'.

"Excellent observation George," Fred countered from his seat next to the Gryffindor fireplace. "Tell me, how did you arrive at this monumental conclusion?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Katie weakly. She knew that if she told them, she would never hear the end of it. What had in fact happened was that her boyfriend of two months, Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain Roger Davies, had abruptly dumped her for that pig-faced tosser Arianna Detch, the nauseatingly beautiful Ravenclaw prefect. To make matters worse, Katie had found the two viciously snogging in the back of the library.

Katie had been combing the shelves for a book she needed for her Transfiguration essay. Not that any book in the world could help her pass that class. She was pondering the idea of whether the need to turn a teacup into a toadstool would ever present itself during her lifetime when she heard muffled voices from the next aisle. Katie craned her neck to try to see over the ancient bookshelf, but to no avail. She was simply too short. Peering around the row of shelves, she saw her boyfriend and that vile Detch girl getting quite cozy in the Herbology section. She had angrily confronted the pair, bellowing something along the lines of "YOU FILTHY SLUG!"

Roger simply scoffed and waved his hand in her general direction, answering the bimbo's question of "who is _that_?" with a simple yet unfailingly stinging, "oh, some girl I used to date." Until this exact point in time Katie was not aware of the fact that she and Roger 'used to date,' she was under the distinct impression that they were 'still dating.' Apparently not.

For the first time in her life, Katie Bell had found herself lost for words. She did not hex Davies into oblivion, or reduce him to a pathetic pile of jelly with her quick-witted insults. She did none of the many brilliant things that later popped into her head as she mulled over the events of the evening. Instead, she slowly backed away, gathered her things, and exited the library, her feeling of worthlessness increasing with each step up the marble staircase.

"Katie, what's wrong pumpkin?" Alicia was motherly by nature, a trait that Katie often found annoying. Tonight was no exception.

"I'm fine _mom. _Just let it alone, ok?" Unfortunately, this answer guaranteed that neither Alicia nor any of her other friends would give her a moments rest until they knew exactly what was going on.

"Katie, I think we all know how this is going to end," Fred commented from his chair. "Just tell us now instead of sitting there sulking like a wet cat."

"Hmm, Fred, why don't we try to guess what happened?" My money is that they ran out of Pumpkin Pasties at dinner. When will they learn that our Katie Kates eats like a hippogriff?" George ducked at the throw pillow fired at his head.

"Exellent guess, George, but we know how seriously Katie takes her food. Is it another detention with Snape, then? You two spend so much time together it's a wonder you aren't going steady." It was Fred's turn for an evasive maneuver, this time in the form of Katie's fist whizzing by his right ear. "No need to get touchy, Katie, you know I would never steal him from you. But how does Roger feel about this? Is that slick git upset to share you?"

At this all the color drained from Katie's face, and she sat down quickly. "Katie?" Fred nervously sat down next to her in George's abandoned seat. "Katie what happened to you? Are you ok?"

Katie could no longer suppress her feelings. The mixed rage and sorrow erupted like a volcano from her tiny frame in the form of sobs. "H-he B-roke U-upp with ME!" her voice hitching on each word. She buried her head in her hands and leaned on a stunned Fred, who had clearly not understood a word of her incoherent blubbering.

"Katie, what?" he asked again, wrapping his long arm around her shoulder.

"The wanker was cheating on me," Katie explained into Fred's now damp jumper. At this, Fred tensed up.

"He did WHAT?" he said leaping to his feet with a murderous glint in his eye. "That two-faced sack of dung!" he began pacing madly, "He is not going to get away with this, that slimy little cockroach, no one hurts my best mate like that. Where is he?" he asked a now recovering Katie.

"Oh no you don't. I am not letting you get kicked out just because I got chucked by some prat." Katie got up and tried to calm down her best friend. "It's not worth it."

"Katie what exactly happened?" Alicia tried to calm the group down. Katie quickly replayed the events of the library, feeling quite upset again upon finishing.

As her friends did their best to comfort her, Katie couldn't help but feel that this was somehow her fault. What exactly was so wrong with her that Roger couldn't stand to be around her anymore? Was she really that horrible? The voice of reason inside her head admonished her ridiculous behavior. _Of course there is nothing wrong with you, its that bloody troll's fault for not seeing how amazing you are. _Katie tried to take comfort in that fact, but Roger's rejection still stung. "Thanks guys," she mumbled to the group that was fervently trying to cheer her up. "I think I'll head up to bed, good night."

"Katie," Fred looked concerned and upset, but the last thing Katie wanted right now was for him to see her cry. She was too tough for that.

"It's fine, Fred, I'll see you tomorrow." With that she slowly climbed the stairs to her dormitory, with none of the usual bounce in her step.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: Wow thanks to all of you for reading my story, and to **PTH12** and **Music ismy heart and soul** for reviewing. I always used to make fun of those poor saps who said that reviews were the only thing keeping them going, but now that I have actually published a story, I have to announce that I am now a raging hypocrite. I LOVE reviews!

So about my story, it will have about three or four chapters, and will be updated whenever the heck I feel like it, schedules aren't my thing. Enjoy!

----/////\\\\\----

Katie made her way down to the Gryffindor Common room, trying to pretend that the events of last night had been a horrible dream. She met up with an overly cheerful Alicia Spinnet, and a concerned but wary Angelina Johnson. Angelina cared for her friend, but all this emotional garbage wasn't her strong suit. She just couldn't understand why Katie didn't beat the living daylights out of Roger and move on with her life.

"Alright, Katie?" this was the closest Angelina could come to comforting her friend. Katie knew this, and felt grateful all the same.

"Yeah, I'm fine, let's head down and eat, I am starving"

"No surprises there, I can't remember a time when you aren't hungry, Katie Kates," Fred Weasley appeared behind Alicia's right shoulder, "Do you agree, Forge?"

"Not entirely correct Gred," George countered from next to Angelina. "I do believe there was that one time-"

"Oh shut it, you goons, I'm leaving" Katie spat, and stalked off through the portrait hole and into the hallway.

"Katie, come back!" Fred caught up to her in the hallway. Katie avoided his gaze in mock anger. "Don't be mad, I haven't even told you about Phase One yet!"

"Phase One?" Katie knew enough about Fred and George to be nervous when any sort of plan was mentioned.

"Of course, Phase One of Operation Save Katie From Ponce Roger Davies, or O.S.K.F.P.R.D, for short."

"Well doesn't that name just roll off the tongue." Katie stiffened. "Fred, exactly what does this plan include?"

Fred smiled wickedly, "I don't want to bore you with the details, but it may or may not involve the demise of a certain Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain,"

"Fred, NO!" she grabbed his arm and wheeled him around face to face. Not quite face to face, more like her face-to-Fred's shoulders. She inwardly cursed her shortness. "I will not have you do anything stupid, do you hear me?"

"Don't worry, Katie muffin, everything is already taken care of." Fred cast Katie one of his easy smiles that always seemed to make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Yet she was still wary of his so-called 'master plan.'

They arrived at breakfast, and while Fred continued to crack jokes at the mammoth amount of food she was consuming, Katie kept her eyes peeled for signs of a certain brown haired philandering Ravenclaw. Sure enough, Roger Davies appeared not long after Angelina, Alicia, and George made their way into the Great Hall. Davies walked over to his table, and sat down without incident. Katie heaved a sigh of relief, consoled by the fact that at least the boy's retribution would not be made public.

Just then, a piercing shriek echoed through the Great Hall. The entire student body turned to see what was going on, except for Katie, who buried her head under the table muttering, "I'll kill that boy."

----/////\\\\\----

An hour later, Katie sullenly slunk along the halls, feeling mortified by the events of the morning. Fred caught up to her as a group of Gryffindors passed. One of them called out "Hey Fred! Nice use of Gerbils, mate. Real stroke of genius, but tell us, how did you get all of them to chase after Davies like that?"

"I have my ways. It really isn't so difficult to bewitch a person to smell like alfalfa pellets," Fred looked extremely pleased with himself that his latest prank was so popular among the student body.

Katie, who had been unsuccessfully trying to ignore the exchange, finally turned to speak to the redheaded twin. "What on earth were you THINKING? Fred I won't be able to show my face around here for weeks, everyone will think I am some crazy psychotic ex-girlfriend hell-bent on revenge!"

"No one will think such a thing, Katie Kates. It is widely known that I am the perpetrator of this morning's little practical joke, so I promise you that people wont think you are as psychotic as you really are." He dodged Katie's left hook and tried to placate the enraged girl. "Don't you think you are overreacting a touch?"

"Oh no, If I were overreacting, there would be cloud of smoke where your head used to be. And I still haven't ruled that out. Now, if you were really my friend, you would stop trying to help me!" She glared at Fred until he lamented.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I will never again use gerbils," Katie deepened her furious gaze, "or any other method of torture on Roger Davies, no matter how much the git deserves it."

This answer seemed to satisfy Katie, so she turned on her heel and walked away in a huff.

----/////\\\\\----

Still upset over the twins' antics of this morning, Katie sat in her seat in Potions beside Fred with all the hostility she could muster. Apparently she could be very hostile, because instead of plopping herself on her stool, she missed and fell to the ground with a very angry thud.

"Ahh, Katie Kates, please remember, Phase two is my job, not yours," Fred extended a hand to help her up but was refused, answered instead by an angry retort.

"And what _exactly_ is Phase Two?" Her glare intensified.

"Phase Two of O.S.K.F.P.R.D is to make Katie forget all about said Ponce by entertaining her with limitless wit and charm," Fred smiled. "Followed by Phase Three in which the fair Katie is…" Fred broke off uncomfortably.

"Yes?"

"Which you, Katie, will find out when the time is right" Before Katie could ask another question, Snape's slimy voice filled the classroom.

"Now, if the members of my class see it fit to _pay attention _instead of gabbing like imbeciles, we may begin today's lesson," He finished his sentence with an icy glare towards Fred and Katie. "The love potion is one of the most useless and frivolous types of concoctions, one that is not even fit to be classified as equal to other potions, or worth the trouble of teaching. However, the officials administering the O.W.L.'s insist that this piece of worthlessness be included in the curriculum, so today, class, we will be brewing Amortentia. The hook nosed professor looked slightly nauseated at the thought of anything so cheerful existing in his classroom.

A hushed murmur of whispers blanketed the class, resonating primarily from the back, where a particularly silly group of girls were seated. Katie rolled her eyes and looked over at Fred. "Alright, let's just get this over with, shall we?" Fred nodded. Despite his continuous statements that school was a waste of time, he was actually quite smart, and, potions being one of Katie's best subjects, the two made short work of the assignment.

As they brewed, Fred started into his world-class impression of Snape, accurately capturing his essence from his slithering gait to his constant look of having dung up his nose. Katie could not help but laugh, but her questions about this master plan lay dormant at the back of her mind. "Come now Fred, at least tell me what you plan on doing, so I can mentally prepare myself."

"Nothing doing," Fred added the last of the crushed snake fangs to the now brilliantly bubbling ivory potion. "The element of surprise is key in this next endeavor. Have a little spontaneity, Katie Kates."

Katie mumbled that she didn't like surprises, but was cut off by Fred's exclamation of "Finished!" She peered over to the shimmering, mother-of-pearl potion that smelled so enticing. She took a whiff, and suddenly her nose filled with the most wonderful scents of freshly laundered clothes, autumn leaves, and was that _gunpowder_?

Katie took a step back, slightly confused, but her moment to reflect on what had just occurred was cut short by Snape, who muttered a cool "passable," as he meandered by.

Fred looked up in joy. That was the closest thing he had ever gotten to a compliment from Severus Snape. "Katie we are _Geniuses!_"

"Whoa there, who are you, Hermione Granger? If I didn't know better I would say you were actually excited about school, that can't be right," Katie laughed as Fred blushed red to the tips of his ears, a Weasley trait that very rarely occurred on the confident jokester.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, missy" Fred said, regaining confidence as he moved to pick up stray ingredients and disassemble his cauldron, "You just be ready tonight at about half past nine. We are going on a little adventure." With that he left dramatically. This for Fred was a graceful pirouette that missed Professor Snape by inches.

"Detention, Mr. Weasley, my classroom is not a dance studio."

"Ahh, if only it was," Fred waved to his now gathered audience and bowed out of the room.

That boy was just too much.

**A/N:** Are you so excited for chapter three? I think it will be the last one, I am fairly certain of how this one will end, but I would appreciate any input you have.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author**: Here it is, the last chapter, hope ya love it!  
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Katie sat slumped in one of the Gryffindor common room's cushiest armchairs by the fire, struggling to prevent her small frame from being engulfed into its mushy depths of softness. For perhaps the fourteen millionth time in the past five minutes her gaze turned to the clock above the mantelpiece. _Isn't this the time that Fred had asked to meet her for a secret adventure to god-knows-where? _Her frown deepened as the cushions slowly devoured her like quicksand._ Could the seats be a little less puffy?  
_  
"Ahh Katie Kates, there you are! Were you attempting to hide from me in the folds of that armchair? From the looks of things I'd say you're doing a rather good job of it," Fred appeared from behind her and extended a hand to help her out of the seemingly suffocating seat.

Grudgingly, Katie accepted the hand and was quickly hoisted out of the cavernous depths of smushy upholstery. "and may I ask where we are going this evening?"

"That, my short statured friend, is for me to know and for you to find out," with this he pulled her by the hand out of the common room and into the corridor. Weaving under tapestries and through secret passages, Katie was almost at a loss for where she was going. Therefore it was surprising when the passage stemming from behind the extra limb of Wurgis the Weird led out into the Entrance Hall. Fred dashed up to the large oak doors and opened the coincidentally unlocked doors. Katie shot him a look, and he shrugged. "Well isn't this just so convenient?"

"Yes, convenient. I'd say about as convenient as the time that Malfoy's pumpkin juice got 'coincidentally' switched with frog spawn,"

"Yes I would say it is exactly that type of coincidence," trying to prevent the growing smile on her face, Katie focused her attention disproportionally on the doorway. Sensing victory within his grasp, Fred pressed his advantage and grabbed her by the waist.

"OH!" was all she could say as Katie was lifted over Fred's shoulder and carried out into the evening air.

"Come along slow poke, I would let you walk but your stumpy legs wouldn't be able to keep up-OWW!" Fred reeled as Katie kicked her stumpy leg into his side.

"We will have none of that thank you!" Smugly, Katie grinned as Fred winced and continued to carry her along. As they reached the forbidden forest, and as Katie's view of the castle grew smaller and smaller, she began to worry.

"Fred, where are we going? Fred, we can't go into the forest at night. Fred, we will be eaten by acromantula. Fred, STOP!" with this last order, Fred obediently stopped and unceremoniously dumped her on the ground.

"We my dear, are at the site of this evenings festivities,"

Katie hastily rose to her feet and dusted off her now dirty favorite pair of jeans, until she saw the object Fred had referred to. Before her eyes was a car. Not a new, shiny car like the ones she had seen on the muggle telly, but what had to be the most disgusting, beat up, and thoroughly battered car in existence. The once green paint had worn almost completely away in the few patches not coated in rust and grime. The Forest seemed ready to swallow up this metal contraption, and the job already looked half finished. Katie's gaze once again swept to Fred, confused as to how this heap of scrap could be considered a 'festivity.'

"Well dont just stand there ogling it, get in!" Fred shouted as he bounded over to the passenger side and elegantly opened the door for her " My lady..." He swept into a bow.

Katie stood there in shock. "Fred, I am not getting in that car,"

Fred raised his head from where it was still held in a graceful bow "You're not?"

"That thing is the definition of a screaming metal death trap."

"Katie don't be a baby, get in the car. I assure you on my life that it is perfectly safe, and if it isn't, well, isn't that just part of the fun?"

"FRED!"

"Please Katie, for me?" Fred fixed her with such a puppy dog stare that Katie would be obliged to plunge into a pack of grindylows just to see him smile. Wordlessly, she sighed, and got in the car. A split second later Fred had dashed around, taken the drivers seat, and thrust the car into drive. With a loud sound of metal screeching and a lurch that Fred could not entirely explain away as the fault of the car, the pair were off.

As the endless dark trunks of the Forbidden Forest whirred by, Katie held on for dear life. Fred weaved in between trees like a madman, making Katie wonder if this was a suicide mission rather than a-_well, what was this exactly? A date? No, certainly not._ Katie's cheeks flushed at the thought. _It was simply, er... ummm... Well who needs labels?_ She thought to herself.

"Fred," Katie called as he nearly missed hitting yet another large oak "not that I don't have the utmost confidence in your driving abilities, but, do you know where we are going?"

"Going?" Fred replied, scandalized that she should even think such a thing, "Why on earth would I ever need to know where I am going? I was just warming up the car."

With that he drew it to a stop, removed the key from the ignition, and dangled it in front of Katie's face. "Tonight, my dear, you will be learning to drive."

In less than .000019293 seconds Katies eyes went from questioning to round and full of excitement. "I GET TO DRIVE?" Katie snatched the keys and held them as a mother holds her firstborn child, reveling in their glory.

Slightly off-put by Katie's odd behavior towards the keychain, Fred slowly opened his door. "Before you get all crazy on me, lets switch sides first, yeah?" As soon as he turned his body to exit the vehicle he saw Katie, standing creepily in front of him, still holding the keys, with a grin a mile wide on her face. Fred knew that look. It was the slightly crazed, obsessive look Katie got right before she pulled a huge foul on the opposing side in Quidditch. This had not been one of Fred's best ideas.

Fred took the passengers seat and proceeded to instruct Katie, who was now so excited she was babbling incoherently.

"After I learn to drive it we can race it through the forest, and learn how to weave between trees, and then we can challenge Snape to a race, and then.." Fred spoke over the rapid monologue to direct:

"Katie, KATIE! Alright Katie the first thing we want to do here is put the keys in the ignition and twist," the engine coughed loudly as Katie violently started the car. She looked over at Fred with a look of such intensity that he became slightly unnerved. "er... next thing to do is press your foot down on the pedal on the left. Katie dramatically depressed the pedal on the right and was rewarded with a loud roar that scared her, Fred, and several small animals within 300 yards. "No NO, your OTHER left!" Katie properly pressed the brake this time, and shifted into drive under Fred's instruction.

"Now, what we're going to do Katie Kates, is slowly, SLOWLY take our foot off of the brake, and carefully, carefully, press just a teensy bit on the gas."

"And what will that do?" Katie questioned.

"That will send the car moving slowly-KATIE! AHH" Fred was thrown backwards in his seat as Katie maniacally floored the gas pedal sending the beat up Ford Anglia careening into the murky depths of the trees.

Katie laughed as she reveled in the speed of the car, similar to the sensation of a quidditch dive, without the risk of bugs flying in her face or up her nose. She expertly weaved between giant and ancient trunks, not sure where she was going but unwilling to slow down for any reason. Fred in the meantime was yelling his head off, flinching and cowering at each narrowly avoided obstacle and calling out occasional hazards such as "TREE" and "ROCK." He was powerless to help.

Eventually Katie reached a clearing where she slowed the car to a neat stop, turning to look at her frozen and frazzled friend. Fred turned to her slowly, saying "Kates, that is not exactly how I intended this to go, but I guess you can drive now..."

"Well I did have an excellent teacher.." _ew Katie! excellent teacher? did you just wink? What in the name of Merlin's balls is wrong with you? _she mentally chastised herself.

Fred puffed up his little chest, looking smug. Katie couldn't help but notice that he wasn't exactly little anymore._ must've filled out over the summer... HEY stop that! You will not let yourself ogle Fred Weasley's chest, and shoulders, and nice forearms.._"AHH" Katie yelled, horrified at her stupid teenage hormones.

"What?" Fred was now extremely confused.

_Quick Katie quick, think of something, why did you yell, why..._ "uhh... I just saw, uh... ACROMANTULA!"

"Katie, did you hit your head on your adrenaline trip or something? you are literally insane."

"No, ACROMANTULA!" Katie physically turned his head to look at the many enormous spiders entering the clearing in front of them.

"Katie reverse, reverse!" the small girl looked at him in panic.

"You never taught me that one!" Fred grabbed her around the waist in one fluid motion and exchanged their seats, throwing the car into reverse and slamming the gas. The car lurched away, and Fred frantically tried to navigate backwards around stumps, rocks, and more spiders. They were now surrounded. Katie looked up at Fred, "what now? WHAT NOW?"

Fred cast his gaze frantically around the dashboard, his eyes coming to rest on a small button present on the middle of the dash. He began to smile. Pressing the button, he yelled to Katie, "Fasten your seatbelts!"

The car seemed ready to snap in two as it made a loud metallic grinding noise, followed by a large blast from the tailpipe. The car lifted off from the ground unsteadily, leering towards the pack of acromantula as Fred tried to gain control of the vehicle. At seemingly the last second, the car gained its balance and lifted above the spiders and past the forest canopy.

Katie looked around her in shock. The car was flying. There were no spiders up here, they were safe. Grasping this concept, Katie threw her arms around Fred, exclaiming "You saved us!" Fred spasmed, causing the car to tilt violently, which he quickly righted with a turn of the wheel.

"Kates, lets save the celebrating until we touch the ground, I'm not exactly sure how this car handles in the air, but if my 12 year old brother could do it, how hard could it possibly be?" The car began to sputter and lose altitude, and Fred panicked, turning the wheel and pressing the gas for all it was worth, to no avail. "Kates, we might be in for a rough landing."

The car dipped lower and lower as Fred sighted the castle in the distance. He steered in the direction of the grounds and braced himself for a rough touch down on the grass. However, the car had other plans. Seconds before it hit the ground, the car came to a stop in mid air, slowly lowering itself the last 10 feet, and coming to rest with a soft bump on the lawn. Fred opened his eyes. Katie looked over at him.

"Well that went surprisingly well."

"Indeed."

The two immediately scrambled out of the vehicle before it could once again throw them in the path of iminent death. The car flashed its lights, and retreated back into the forest, as Katie and Fred watched in awe. Shrugging, Fred turned and began to walk towards the castle entrance. Katie hustled to follow him, catching his stride.

"Well that was certainly an interesting evening."

"Interesting in the way that a blast-ended skrewt is interesting?" Fred asked, looking defeated.

"No, not the death-wish type of interesting, the I-actually-had-fun kind of interesting." Katie slipped her arm around his waist, and he welcomed the gesture by wrapping his long freckly arm around her shoulders. They walked up to the castle in contented silence.

**************************************

Upon entering the Common Room, Katie and Fred realized how late the hour was, seeing that everyone had long since gone up to bed. The silence of the room was suddenly deafening. Katie looked down furtively at her hand, which had been holding Fred's since their entrance into the castle and through the maze of passages. She didn't think this was quite the right time to let go.

Fred looked down at her, smiling. "So tell me Kates, did this excursion succeed in making you forget Ponce Roger Davies?"

Katie smiled with a light in her eyes that Fred could not immediately place, "Yes Fred, you have successfully saved me from said Ponce."

"Excellent." Fred moved in a little closer, their hands still intertwined between them. "Now I think we should talk about the next phase..." The two heard a noise, the noise of tartan evening slippers on stone, the extremely distinct and terrifying sound of Professor McGonagall out of bed for the express purpose of catching students prone to nighttime wanderings. "Quickly!" Fred whispered, "Up here!" he pushed Katie up the closest doorway, the entrance to the boys dormitories, and followed right behind.

By this time McGonagall had entered the dormitory, exclaiming "I know there is a student our of bed, reveal yourself now or your punishment will be much more severe!" She began to walk towards the staircase. Fred shoved Katie up the steps, telling her "Go to my dormitory, hide before she sees you!" Katie opened her mouth to object but Fred covered her mouth with his hand, silently pressing a finger to his lips to indicate silence.

Katie obediently crept up the stairs, as, to her horror, Fred leaped down the last few steps and out into the Common Room. Unable to help, Katie continued up the stairs listening to McGonagall's ravings and entered the boy's 6th year dorm. The first sensation she experienced was that the style of the boys and girls rooms were quite similar. The next thought that struck her a few seconds later was the godawful stench of boy. The odor of sweat, mold, and distinctly horrifying scents hung in the air in a thickness that seemed almost tangible. Katie wrinkled her nose, upset by the fact that it would probably never work properly again, and spotted the sleeping figures of the other boys in the room.

Cautiously, she picked her way around the piles of clothing and assorted garbage to the one vacant bed, Fred's. After banging her shin for the fourth time on an unidentified object, Katie murmured a quiet "Lumos parvus" and a small low light emitted from her wand. Holding it up above her, she saw that Fred had decorated the wall around his bed with pictures and posters. After rolling her eyes at several pictures of buxom witches perched on cauldrons, Katie's eyes traveled to a picture of the Quidditch team after their Championship win the previous year. In the picture Fred had his arm around her, and the two seemed to be laughing at some private joke.

Katie reached out and brushed the picture with her fingertips, smiling to herself. Around this picture was a collage of ofthe photographs of Fred's family and friends, including several pictures of some of the twins' finest pranks over the years. Next to this hall of fame, sat a worn, slightly wrinkled picture. Katie looked closer. The picture was one of herself, head thrown back in laughter. The picture seemed to be coming apart from the wall in a few places, and it didn't take much effort for her to just lift the picture from its gentle sticking charm, and hold it in her hands.

Katie turned the picture over, and was surprised to find an inscription in Fred's distinguishable script. It read: My Katie. With a small gasp, the gears in her brain suddenly began whirring as the facts fell into place.

Fred. Fred was the one person she could count on, the one person always there for her ready with a shoulder to cry on or a joke to make her laugh. Fred came to her rescue whether she wanted to be saved or not. He was one of the most important people in her life and one of the few whose opinion truly mattered to her. And to Fred, Katie was everything. She was his rock, his advocate when his mischief landed him into trouble, and one of the few people he trusted his secrets to. Katie realized that somewhere between their first encounter pulling her braids on the hogwarts express to right now, Fred had fallen in love with her. And more importantly, she had fallen in love with him.

Meanwhile, as Fred bounded down the stairs of the boys dormitory he pondered the girl he was currently sacrificing his next 5 or so saturdays worth of detention to save. He hoped she wouldn't do anything rash like come down and attempt to assume any of the blame. He lifted his gaze towards Professor McGonagall, eyes blazing in a red that matched her entirely tartan dressing gown. Fred wondered where one purchased such sleepwear...

"Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall scolded. "Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why I am currently seeing a sixth year student who is fully aware of the rules concerning curfew, out of bed?"

"Well professor, may I jsut say to begin with, that is a lovely dressing gown you've got there, is that flannel?"

"Mr. WEASLEY!"

"Yes professor. See, I was up in bed like a good chap, when I was suddenly overcome with an inspiration concerning your essay assignment. I simply had to continue writing it before by creativity dissolved, so I set off downstairs in search of my transfiguration text book to finish my research."

Professor McGonagall did not believe one word of his story, a realization that slowly dawned on Fred as he attempted to explain his way out of trouble.

"Mr. Weasley, perhaps we could try again and you could tell me what really brought you out of bed this evening."

"Yes professor, I was attempting... _Think quick Weasley its your skin on the line_.. to retrieve my confiscated fanged frisbee from Filch's office," This lie seemed safer than the truth, which involved Katie, charming the door to the castle entrance, leaving the castle, entering the forbidden forest, and grand theft auto. Fred listened to McGonagall's rant and subsequent punishment, and made his way up the stairs to his domitory.

As he opened the door, he was quickly assaulted by a small brown haired creature. The thing threw its arms around his neck and whispered,

"Fred, I found your picture." Fred immediately realized that the soft thing in his arms was Katie, His Katie.

Katie looked up into Fred's eyes, and a wordless acknowledgment passed between them.

Fred said to her, "I take that picture down sometimes, just to look at it for a while, it makes me happy, gives me courage,"

"Courage?"

"The courage to do this," Fred lowered his head and softly pressed his lips to her own. Katie sighed and immediately responded, lengthening the kiss until Fred paused and lifted her face up to meet his eyes.

Katie smiled, "I've always been your Katie,"

Fred chuckled softly "And I will always be your Fred." He reached for her neck to draw her in for another kiss.

"Wait."

"What is it?" Fred looked suddenly concerned

"What was it you were saying earlier, about phase four?" Fred's eyes shone with mirth as he laughed.

"Well, Katie Kates, it may or may not have something to do with snogging you silly until the end of time, or whenever one of us needs to breathe. Whichever comes first."

"Hmm," Katie chuckled, I wonder which one it will be." Grabbing him by the neck, she intended to find out.

-fin-

**Author**: How did you like that everyone? I knew I would finish it someday, its only about a year and a half late, sowwy!


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